FT Power Monitor

Topic: FT Power Monitor (Read 1815 times) previous topic - next topic

FT Power Monitor

December 01, 2014, 10:47:58 am

Does anyone know of a provider for the Power Monitor modification shown on the forum ? To shakey any more to do it myself.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #1 – December 01, 2014, 11:48:30 am

Are you talking about the green bulb replacement? If so, where are you located? There might be a Fofum in your area who's familiar/has done theirs and might be able to help out.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #2 – December 01, 2014, 12:26:08 pm

I am in the process of having mine done in Georgetown TX http://www.georgetowntvandaudio.com I took all the info on the forum and copies of the pictures to the guy and he said he would be glad to do it. I am waiting on the bulbs now. I will post an update when it i complete

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #3 – December 01, 2014, 06:45:44 pm

Thanks for the replies, looking forward to the update.

I'm located at the SKP park in Livingston, TX

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #4 – December 01, 2014, 07:57:20 pm

Well bad news, all spectrum electronics called this afternoon and said they do not have any more green bulbs and did not expect to have any in the future. So I have decided to order white bulbs and see how they do. More updates to follow.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #5 – December 01, 2014, 11:19:46 pm

Neon Lamp, NE-2G, 6x12, 60mm leads, GREEN NE-2G-6x12x60 - All Spectrum

Are these the ones they say are discontinued? I ordered some not long ago and they had plenty.

Mark

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #6 – December 02, 2014, 07:34:08 am

Yes that is the one. I ordered some two weeks ago and by mistake ordered one instead of four and it came right away. I as ordering the other three and that's what they called about. I'm going to reorder today and see what happens

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #7 – December 02, 2014, 10:16:26 am

Over on Barry Beam's site Dick Mason reported in the link to his blog...

"AC Power Monitor

Foretravel supplies an AC monitor panel in all their motorhomes. This panel contains two digital AC voltmeters and two sets of neon bulbs to verify correct connections to the campground pedestal. In normal usage, where all connections are correct, each bank displays 2 green lights and no red lights. By the time the rig was about 2 1/2 years old, the green neon lights were flickering fairly badly, and would not light at all at low line voltages. Foretravel replaced the monitor on warranty, but warned that "they all tend to do that".

Not wanting to have them fail again, I opened the monitor and replaced the light bulb series resistors with ones 10 times the resistance. If I remember correctly, they were 47k and I changed them to 470k. This reduced the intensity somewhat, but they are still plenty bright. Their life should now be extended by a large factor. It is now over two years after making this change and the lights are still rock solid.

Note of 3/25/12

It is now almost 10 years since replacing the resistors in the monitor and the lights are still bright and flikker free. I highly recommend increasing these resistor values as most other Foretravel owners are reporting failure of these light in less than 3 years! The ForeForums had a very extensive thread on this subject a couple years ago. I have included a couple of my posts on this subject here: Both were written on June 15, 2010.

First Post:

Hi all,

I finally found a source for the ne-2g bulbs for our power line monitors! It is All Spectrum Electronics in Van Nuys, CA (http://www.allspectrum.com). Under the topic of NEON LAMPS they list about 10 different size and lead length combinations of the green bulbs. I would have to open my monitor and measure the existing bulbs to verify the correct one. Prices run around $0.50 each, varying a little by exact bulb.

Dick

Seacond Post:
OK, I went out and pulled my monitor out and opened it up.

The steps to open it are:
1 Remove front panel from electrical box - 4 screws
2 Unplug 2 cables from front panel to power supplies
3 Remove 4 hex nuts and remove board from front panel

The 4 NE-2G green bulbs are 6 x 12 mm. There are also 2 plain NE-2 (amber) 6 x 12 mm bulbs for the open ground indication. I didn't touch the circuit of these 2 bulbs as they are almost never (hopefully!) lit, and should last forever.

I replaced the original series resistors with 470k for long life and not too dim a bulb for the 4 green bulbs. Before you change these resistors, you should follow the traces and verify that your board layout is the same as mine (2000 U-270).

The attached photo shows these as well as the adjusting pots to calibrate your volt meters. Just be careful of the high voltage, both as for shorting anything while it is hot, and coming into personal contact with any high voltages!

Dick"

I checked the link for buls and they have the green ones.

http://www.allspectrum.com

All Spectrum Electronics - Hobby Kits and Electronics Supply

Good idea to change resistors as well for long life.

Thanks Dick.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #8 – December 02, 2014, 10:21:27 am

Out of stock.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #9 – December 02, 2014, 10:35:24 am

Quote from: Home2fromHastings – December 02, 2014, 10:16:26 am

Over on Barry Beam's site Dick Mason reported in the link to his blog...

"AC Power Monitor

Note of 3/25/12

It is now almost 10 years since replacing the resistors in the monitor and the lights are still bright and flikker free. I highly recommend increasing these resistor values as most other Foretravel owners are reporting failure of these light in less than 3 years! The ForeForums had a very extensive thread on this subject a couple years ago.

Here's a link to the original thread Dick references. He has a couple of other possible bulb options in the thread

Power Line Monitor Is On The Fritz

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #10 – December 02, 2014, 11:49:46 am

Bulbs in Dick's link have a 1 week lead time but they still carry them.

Thanks Michelle for the original link, I couldn't find it.

Roger

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #11 – December 02, 2014, 02:45:02 pm

OK, I reordered the green bulbs and they just called and said again that they are not available and they don't think they will carry them anymore.. I asked about the one week lead time shown on their web site and was told that it was wrong that it should show discontinued as several of the others do. I am replacing mine with white ones which they do have in stock.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #12 – December 02, 2014, 03:19:30 pm

white bulbs and some green nail polish may do the trick.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #13 – December 02, 2014, 03:56:41 pm

Daft as it may sound they make paint to put on light bulbs. I believe craft stores carry it.

Years ago it was impossible to find PAR bulbs that were green. Here around Chicago fire apparatus has one green and one red light on the front. It come from a tradition long ago when Albert Goodrich, who's family operated the Goodrich steamship line, became Fire Commissioner. He equipped each piece with port and starboard running lights. All our apparatus followed the tradition. I had to find green bulbs to keep them happy. That's how I know.

Keith

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #14 – December 02, 2014, 06:57:32 pm

Don't see a problem using white bulbs. I understand the open grnd, & common, what do the green indicate ?

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #15 – December 02, 2014, 07:30:41 pm

Quote from: toyman – December 02, 2014, 06:57:32 pm

Don't see a problem using white bulbs. I understand the open grnd, & common, what do the green indicate ?

Green = OK. The locations of the green bulbs are the "everything's ok" you WANT to see lit up, so a quick glance over to see the 4 green lights on the right side let's you know it's ok.

The other locations use amber lights to indicate "warning" because they correspond to problems (although the green ones may also be lit at the same time, depending on the issue being indicated).

The selected media item is not currently available.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #16 – December 02, 2014, 08:10:54 pm

Wonder if these could substitute for the NE-2G ?

LED - 120V AC Green - Blue Sea Systems

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #17 – December 02, 2014, 09:29:29 pm

I too have considered using leds. The main difference is that neon lamps will only glow if the voltage is approximately correct. Leds will emit light at low levels with voltages far below normal. This st probably a moot point since there are voltmeter on the same monitor.

I think I have talked myself into switching to leds.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #18 – December 03, 2014, 12:06:02 pm

Quote from: Tom Lang – December 02, 2014, 09:29:29 pm

I think I have talked myself into switching to leds.

Great idea, keep us posted on the details.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #19 – December 07, 2014, 01:26:26 am

Michelle's picture of her Powerline Monitor Display reminded me that hers is different than mine. The monitor is the same, but when I am plugged into a 50 amp shore connection, my display only shows line 2, which is about 125 volts. There is no display for line 1; I do not remember what the parity displays showed.

I suspect that Line 1 and Line 2 are the two 120 volt circuits that make up the two legs of the 50 amp circuit. Furthermore, I assume that they have some relationship to the Leg 1 and Leg 2 circuits shown on the wiring diagrams. At first, I thought that only one of those circuits is getting through my power cord, but that cannot be. I am getting power to some of the systems that are on each of the legs.

The recent discussions in this thread talked about opening up the display showed the internal wiring. My thinking now is that maybe one of those wires to the monitor display has come loose (always an optimist). Before I go the the trouble of removing the monitor panel, are there any particular tests I could run to verify that should be my next step?

I have now owned this coach for almost four months. It is stored (outside) for the winter and I have a lot of things to take care of. One of the first is to provide a 50 amp outlet to plug into. Would like to get this monitor discrepancy fixed first.

I appreciate any guidance that anyone is willing to provide.

Thanks,

Trent

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #20 – December 07, 2014, 05:18:35 am

Yes, line 1 and line 2 are the two legs of the 50A service, and connect individually to the two receptacles in a duplex outlet behind the power monitor. If both sockets are hot and both plugs from the monitor are plugged in, then something is not working within the monitor itself or one of its plugs or cords.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #21 – December 07, 2014, 10:23:29 am

Quote from: TulsaTrent – December 07, 2014, 01:26:26 am

Michelle's picture of her Powerline Monitor Display reminded me that hers is different than mine. The monitor is the same, but when I am plugged into a 50 amp shore connection, my display only shows line 2, which is about 125 volts. There is no display for line 1;

If all checks out as Tom suggests (making sure both Powerline monitor plugs are plugged in), check the breakers in the main box at the foot of the bed. There are 2 circuits, one on each leg, that have the Powerline monitor connections (in addition to other things). Make sure they are both on. If one is off, the display for that leg will be blank.

ETA - one of our legs is on the block heater breaker and nothing else is on that breaker.

One other possibility is that the connection inside the Powerline monitor has come unplugged, but check the other things first.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #22 – December 09, 2014, 04:37:20 pm

Final up date on bulb replacement on power line monitor panel. I re installed my panel today and am very happy with the white bulbs. They are actually a light bluish color often seen in "white" LED bulbs. I found that there is a small shield around each bulb and I was unable to get a couple of them centered as well as I would have liked but time and the going feeling that I was going to break something else made me stop. You can see in the pics that they appear irregularly shaped but the overall results were positive. Also there was a lot extra wire coiled behind the panel which made it very to get the entire assembly out where you can work on it. Thanks FOT.

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #23 – December 09, 2014, 04:38:28 pm

Whoops wrong pics stand by

Re: FT Power Monitor

Reply #24 – December 09, 2014, 04:49:49 pm

These my work better. Any way, it was a really easy project Detleff Knoll at Georgetown TV did the hard part, removing and soldering them in for $25. Dropped them off Monday afternoon and picked them up Tuesday morning. That's great service in my book.

Affiliate Notice